Peace in the Storm
by uruguaya101
Summary: When everything is back to normal, can Sakura realize her feelings for Naruto?


Title: Peace in the Storm  
Written: 8/6/12  
Anime: Naruto

Just a little something I came up with. I hope you guys like it!

Sakura landed on the ground with a hard thud, the rain washing all the blood from her clothes away. Her blonde team mate stretched his hand, blue eyes shining against the cloudy background. They had been training for days, everyday- from noon to nightfall. They were both twenty, now, and they had become the best of friends.

She took his hand and he pulled her up. "My place?" he asked with a smile. "Sure", she replied as she picked up her backpack and walked up beside him.

This had been going on for weeks, now. They would train countless hours and once they could no longer fight, they'd go to one of their houses, either to watch a movie, or drink tea, have a nice conversation. Sometimes, they'd just go straight to sleep.

They arrived at Naruto's house. Once he defeated Sasuke and won the war, Tsunade and Naruto had a pretty chat. In said chat, the hokage found out that Naruto knew about his parents and who they were. At eight-teen, he was given permission to live in the Namikaze mansion that once belonged to his father, the Fourth Hokage.

The couple walked through the doors and took off their shoes, leaving them at the entrance. Sakura laughed a full hearted laugh as she ran to the bathroom, calling dibs on the shower. Naruto chuckled at her child like manners and headed to the kitchen to make himself a bowl of ramen, and like a gentleman, he made Sakura some, too.

Sakura locked the bathroom door and walked to the shower, letting the hot water shower on top of the empty tub. She stripped down to nothing in front of the mirror and frowned. She looked at the scars on her body, the one on her side, and sighed. She frowned even more at the one on her thighs- unlike the one on her side, these were fine- like lines, and there were about six.  
'Naruto would never love me…', the pinkette thought.

About twenty minutes later, Sakura dried herself off and wrapped a towel around her pale body. She walked out of the steamy bathroom and looked for her friend, smelling ramen from the kitchen, she decided to look there first.

Naruto was eating his fourth bowl of ramen when Sakura walked in, wearing only but a towel. He nearly choked at the sight before him- her darkened eyes, her smooth skin, and was that a blush on her cheeks? Before he could keep on staring at her, she spoke.

"Hey, mind if I borrow a shirt? Even better, a pair of shorts? All of my clothes are soaked…", she laughed and scratched the back of her head. Before he could answer, a flash of lightning and a thunder crashed not too far away, making the pinkette jump.

He smiled at her, knowing that she was terrified of these things, and nodded. "Of course you can, Sakura-chan", he replied while standing up from his chair and made his way to his room.

His room, unlike the rest of the house, was simple. A single bed and on top, pictured of Team Seven, Team Kakashi, his parents, and Jiraya & Tsuande. A big window on the side of his bed, a bedside table, and drawer on the opposite side. Next to the drawer, a desk, which was covered with scrolls and books full of jutsu.

He walked towards the drawer, Sakura following behind him. He opened the first one, pulling out a pair of grey boxers, and the second one, taking out a black t-shirt. He turned around and smiled full-heartedly to her, her blush increasing more. "Here you go, Sakura-chan", giving her the clothes.

"Hai, thank you, Naruto-kun", she hugged him. His smile vanished for a small second and his face turned a shade of pink. 'Kun…?', he thought to himself as he walked out of the room to give her privacy. She called "done!" when she was ready, and smiled at him when he walked into the room, and looked at him. He was about six" four now, he held wide shoulders and tan skin, his blonde hair having grown like his father's. He was by no means hard on the eyes.

Before either could say anything, another thunder crashed close and she practically jumped on top of him, trying to get away from the awful noise. He laughed hard while she pouted.

"It's not funny!", she whined. He laughed even harder at this. "Oh, but Sakura-chan, it is!", he smiled.

He walked them over to the bed and practically dropped her on it, he followed right after. "Time for sleep!", he yawned, pulling the covers of his bed to cover both him and Sakura. This was normal to them. She happily sighed as she was covered with the blankets, and if possible, her face turned even redder when he hugged her from behind. Once the original shock had passed through her, she snuggled against him, enjoying the warmth his body provided.

The rain scattered on the rooftop and another thunder crashed near the Namikaze mansion, waking up Sakura from her sleep. She looked at the clock on the bedside table and it ready 2:33 am. The med-nin frowned and turned around, facing her blonde team mate. He was sleeping peacefully, despite the loud thunder. She smiled- a tiny smile, and touched his cheek.

They were best friends- they knew everything about each other. After the war, when things started to go back to normal, they would spend days together by the river, swimming and talking like they were kids again. It was in one of those days that the friends decided to spar, Naruto vs. Sakura. During that little training session, Naruto threw a few kunai and shuriken at Sakura- a kunai stabbing her in the side and the shiruken grazed her thighs. He insisted on taking her on his back, saying that he was sorry about a million times. Even after she had healed herself, he pleaded to take her, saying "anything for my Sakura- chan". She smiled at him and let her heart drop a bit at her name. She jumped on his back and relaxed into the embrace. When she woke up that day, she was in her bed, the blonde sleeping next to her soundly. In his sleep, however, he mumbled something amongst the lines of " Sakura.. love..". And that's all it took. She kissed his cheek that day but kept her feelings unsaid.

The thunder had stopped and the rain was falling softly, now. He stirred in his sleep but Sakura still kept her hand on his cheek, rubbing her thumb against his whisker marks.

"Naruto… I know that I don't deserve to even be your friend, but…", she started with a low whisper. The jinjuriki woke up to this sound, but let her talk, curious to what she had to say. "I .. I love you so much", she finally said. "I love you so, Naruto-kun, and I am so…so sorry that.. It took me so long to realize this.. and now.. it might be too late…!", tears spilled out her eyes. "so even if you are just my friend .. I'll be happy just being in the same room as you.. because I am in love with you, Naruto..", she sobbed quietly.

His heart was throbbing, now. Beating loudly and quickly and it could not stop. He opened his eyes to see Sakura crying in front of him. He tried to calm his beating heart before he spoke.  
"Sakura-chan…", he whispered. He lifted his hand to wipe a few of her tears. "It's never too late."

She gasped and looked at him with puffy, watery eyes. "I will never stop loving you. No matter how old we get, I will only love you", he said looking into her eyes.

Before she could even reply, he sat up and leaned down, connecting his lips with hers. She gasped and moaned at the sudden action, but gladly kissed him back, grasping to his hair to bring him closer. It seemed like hours later that they broke apart to breathe properly, both of them struggling to get air in their lungs. She smiled up at him, blushing slightly. "You love me…", she whispered happily into the dark room. He smiled down at her, caressing her cheek with his large hand. "And I always will, my Sakura-chan".


End file.
